Methylphenidate and clonidine (particularly in combination) are effective for ADHD in children with comorbid tics. Prior recommendations to avoid methylphenidate in these children because of concerns of worsening tics are unsupported by this trial.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the neuropsychiatric effects of the alpha-2a adrenergic agonist guanfacine in children with Tourette syndrome (TS). Twenty-four children with TS participated in a 4-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of guanfacine. Tic severity, neuropsychologic functioning, and parent ratings of behavior were evaluated pre- and post-treatment. The sample had mild tic severity and subtle neuropsychologic dysfunction pretreatment. Post-treatment, patients receiving guanfacine were rated by parents as significantly improved (compared to placebo) on one measure of executive function (parent-rated metacognition). Improvement on tic severity, performance-based neuropsychologic measures, and all other parent ratings were not significantly better than placebo. At a moderate dose and short-term treatment duration, guanfacine did not provide significant neuropsychiatric benefits in this group of children with mild TS.

Children with TS may benefit from treatment with baclofen, although improvements may be related to factors other than tics. Larger studies directly comparing baclofen against other tic-suppressing agents are recommended.

We report the first experimental results and simulations that demonstrate a substantial effect of large-scale front-surface target structures on high-intensity laser-produced positrons.Specifically, as compared to a flat target under nominally the same laser conditions, an optimized Si microwire array target yielded a near 100% increase in the laser-to-positron conversion efficiency and produced a 10 MeV increase in positron energy. Full-scale particle-in-cell simulations that modeled the entire positron production and transport process starting from laser-plasma interactions provided additional insight into the beneficial role of target structuring. The agreement between experimental and simulated spectra suggests future target structure optimization for desired positron sources.Electron-positron pair plasmas are found in various extreme astrophysical objects, such as pulsars, bipolar outflows, active galactic nuclei, and gamma ray bursts 1 . Producing a pair plasma

A highly adaptable and robust terahertz (THz) energy meter is designed and implemented to detect energetic THz pulses from high-intensity (>1018 W/cm2) laser–plasma interactions on the OMEGA EP. THz radiation from the laser driven target is detected by a shielded pyrometer. A second identical pyrometer is used for background subtraction. The detector can be configured to detect THz pulses in the 1 mm to 30  μm (0.3- to 10-THz) range and pulse energies from joules to microjoules via changes in filtration, aperture size, and position. Additional polarization selective filtration can also be used to determine the THz pulse polarization. The design incorporates significant radiation and electromagnetic pulse shielding to survive and operate within the OMEGA EP radiation environment. We describe the design, operational principle, calibration, and testing of the THz energy meter. The pyrometers were calibrated using a benchtop laser and show linear sensitivity to up to 1000 nJ of absorbed energy. The initial results from four OMEGA EP THz experiments detected up to [Formula: see text] at the detector, which can correspond to hundreds of mJ depending on THz emission and reflection models.